This document provides an overview of various solar irradiance data sources and analysis software that can be used for renewable energy projects and solar PV system design. It lists numerous global data sources like NASA SSE, Focus Solar, HelioClim-1, NCEP/NCAR, and others that provide satellite-derived solar radiation data at different resolutions. It also summarizes several solar PV software tools from around the world used for modeling and optimizing photovoltaic systems, such as PVsyst, Homer, PV Designer Solmetric, PV F-Chart, and others.

1. Solar Irradiance Data Sources
and Analysis Software
Renewable Energy Course
EEM-405
Institute of Business Management
Karachi
Syed Akhtar Ali-Visiting Professor
CEO-PROPLAN
proplanassociates@gmail.com

2. • NASA SSE
• Archive of over 200 satellite-derived meteorology and
solar energy parameters, globally available at a resolution
of 1x1°.
NASA SSE
FOCUS SOLAR
Focus solar Satellite-based service with worldwide solar
radiation calculated from MSG, GOES, and MTSAT images
by the Heliosat 3 method. Data are available from 2005
onwards, including near real-time data at a resolution of 1
km².
Focus solar

3. • HelioClim-1
• Solar radiation calculated from Meteosat images by the
Heliosat 2 method. Coverage: field of view of Meteosat
satellite (Europe& Africa). Available through SoDa portal.
HelioClim-1
• The NCEP/NCAR
• Reanalysis Project Atmospheric analyses using historical
data and analyses of the current atmospheric state.
Coverage: the entire world, with a grid cell of approx. 2° in
size. Available also through SoDa portal.
NCEP/NCAR

4. • World Radiation Data Centre
• Solar radiation and radiation balance data (the world
network). See also Voeikov Main Geophysical Observatory.
Worldwide solar radiation database.
World Radiation Data Centre
• NREL/USA
• US dynamic solar atlas; on grid cells of ~ 40 km by 40 km
provides monthly averages of daily total solar resource
available to flat plate photovoltaic modules and
concentrators.
NREL

5. • Canada Natural Resources Canada
• Photovoltaic (PV) potential and insolation
web-based maps from interpolated
measurements
Canada Natural ressources

6. Data Sources
• Australia Bureau of Meteorology
• runs a computer model which produces estimates of the daily
total of solar radiation from the MTSAT-1R geostationary
satellite.
Australia Bureau of Meteorology
• Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA)
• Data and assessment tools for energy market development in
developing countries (UNEP/GEF)
• SOLEMI
• Satellite-based service for high-resolution solar radiation for
Europe, Africa and Asia (DLR, Germany)

7. • Meteonorm
• Data developed from ground measurements by
interpolation for solar energy and applied meteorology.
Partly available through SoDa portal.
Meteonorm
• SolarGIS
• Hih resolution solar radiation database developed
from Meteosat MSG data. Available for Europe, North
Africa, and Southwest Asia through the SolarGIS web
portal.

8. • PVGIS solar data (EU)
• PVGIS provide a large and accurate solar irradiation free
database for europe, Africa Mediterranean Basin and
South-West Asia.
PVgis
• RETScreen (CAN)
• Restscreen is a free software that includes worlwide solar
irradiation database.
RETScreen

9. Database
Region
Values
Meteonorm Worldwide
Monthly
Meteonorm worldwide
Hourly
Satellight
Europe
Hourly
US TMY2
USA
Hourly
Switzerlan
ISM-EMPA
d
Helioclim
(SoDa)
Europe
Africa
NASA-SSE Worldwide
Hourly
Source
Period
Variables
1960-1991
1700 Terr.
Averages
Gh, Ta
Stations
1995-2005
Wind
Interpolatio
(V 6.0)
Others
ns
Averages
Synthetic
Gh, Dh, Ta
idem
generation
WindVel
Meteosat
Any pixel
Gh
1996-2000
of about
No Ta
5x7 km2
NREL, 239
1960-1990 Gh, Dh, Ta,
stations
samples
WindVel
TMY
Availability
PVsyst
import
Software
Direct by
file (300
stations in
PVsyst DB)
Software
Direct by
file
Web free
Direct by
file
Web free
Included in
database
22 stations 1981-1990 Gh, Dh, Ta, Included in
DRY
samples
WindVel
PVsyst
Hourly
Meteosat
From
02/2004
Monthly
Satellites
1°x1° cells
(111x111
km2)
1983-1993
averages
Gh
No Ta
Gh, Ta
Includded
in
database
Webrestric
Direct by
ted
copy/paste
2005 free
Web free
Direct

10. WRDC
Worldwide
Hourly
Daily
Monthly
Europe
PVGISESRA
Monthly
Europe
Africa
RETScreen Worldwide
SolarGIS
Europe
Africa, Asia
Brazil,
West
Europe :
566
stations
interp. 1x1
km2
1964-1993
each
1981-1990
averages
Africa :
Meteosat
1985-2004
(Helioclim-1
database)
Africa
Helioclim -1
(SoDa)
1195
stations
Gh
No Ta
Web
free
Direct by
copy/paste
Gh, Ta
Linke
turbidity
Web free
Direct by
copy/paste
Direct by
copy/paste
Monthly
Meteosat
50x50 km2
1985-2005
each year
Gh
No Ta
Web
Restricted
1985-89
free
Monthly
Compil. 20
sources
Incl. WRDC
- NASA
1961-1990
averages
Gh, Ta
WindVel
Software,
free
Direct by
copy/paste
Hourly
Meteosat
Approx.
4x5 km2
From 1994
(1999)
Gh, Dh, Ta
Web, paid
access
Direct

11. Solar PV software
SOLAR PV SOFTWARE

12. Software
• Archelios PRO (FR)
• This PV software permits to evaluate solar radiation of a site, to
design a photovoltaic system and calculate the energy produced and
the profitability.
A free version is available without databases.
• Archelios
• POLYSUN (CH)
• SPF - Velasolaris, sizing and simulation of photovoltaic systems.
Polysun
• PVcad (GE)
• Software that allows to design PV facades. The current version runs
under Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4 (no more released).
PVcad

13. • PV-Design-PRO (GE)
• PV-DesignPro v6.0 is Windows compatible software designed to simulate
photovoltaic energy system operation on an hourly basis for one year,
based on a user selected climate and system design. Three versions of the
PV-DesignPro program are included on the Solar Design Studio CD-ROM:
"PV-DesignPro-S" for standalone systems with battery storage, "PVDesignPro-G" for grid-connected systems with no battery storage, and
"PV-DesignPro-P" for water pumping systems.
Pv-Design-PRO
• HELIOS 3D Solarparkplanung
HELIOS 3D is a professionnal planning tools for utility scale PV plants.
It allows shadow free placement of PV racks on a digital terrain at any
geographical position and at any given date or time. The workflow
supports all phases of the project process :
Project Development : Analysis and evaluation of the terrain, rate of yield
Project Layout : Structuring of the terrain, positioning of PV racks,
optimize positioning for maximum yield
Project Engineering : Electric layout, Bill ofmaterial,

14. • HOMER (USA)
• HOMER is a computer model that simplifies the
task of evaluating design options for both off-grid
and grid-connected power systems for remote,
stand-alone, and distributed generation (DG)
applications. HOMER's optimization and
sensitivity analysis algorithms allow the user to
evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of
a large number of technology options and to
account for uncertainty in technology costs,
energy resource availability, and other variables

15. • INSEL
• The INSEL toolbox Solar Electricity provides parameters for the
simulation of all market-available PV modules and inverters.
INSEL
• PV Designer Solmetric
• PV Designer software enables you to quickly and easily: draw a roof
outline, specify set-backs and keep-out regions, incorporate SunEye
shade measurements at specific locations on the roof, drag-anddrop modules, size strings, check inverter limits, and calculate the
AC energy production for your system.It includes extensive worldwide databases of modules, inverters, and historical weather. You
can easily try different design scenarios and compare their AC kWhr outputs side-by-side to identify the best design. Results can be
exported in a PDF format and printed or emailed to clients. The
software is designed for residential and small commercial systems.
Solmetric

16. • PV F-CHART (USA)
• PV F-CHART is a comprehensive photovoltaic system analysis and
design program. The program provides monthly-average
performance estimates for each hour of the day. The calculations
are based upon methods developed at the University of Wisconsin
which use solar radiation utilizability to account for statistical
variation of radiation and the load.
PV F-Chart
• PVoptimize
• PVOptimize is a new software product developed by
KGA Associates, LLC. It is a software modeling tool that helps solar
photovoltaic (PV) sales and installation companies design optimal
PV systems for their customers. It is useful to anyone who needs to
predict and analyze solar PV output, the affect of shading on PV
ouput and the affect of "time of use" rate schedules on optimal
system size. It is also a useful tool for analyzing utility rate
structures and their effect on solar installations.

17. Software
• Kerychip (DK)
• Photovoltaic sizing software programs for grid connected and stand
alone systems.
Available in demo versions.
• PVscout 2.0 Premium
• PVscout is a PV-sizing software for the planning and calculation of gridconnected photovoltaic systems irrespective of manufacturer.
Features:
- graphical representation and dynamic interconnection of several roofs.
- full range of data irrespective of manufacturer
- solar irradiation data based on high-resolution mean minute values
- calculations of economic efficiency
- Individually compiled presentation of technical details, order,
quotation, electrical circuit diagram, DC connection drawing, solar yield
and economic efficiency

18. PVSYST (CH)
•
• One of the oldest photovoltaic software, developed by the University
of Geneva. PVSYST is designed to be used by architects, engineer and
researchers, and it is also a very useful pedagogical tool.
Main features :
- Full design of remote PV systems
- Full design of PV systems connected to the grid
- Complet database of PV panels, inverters, meteorological data
- Useful 3D application to simulate near shadings
- Import of irradiation data from PVGIS, NASA databases
- Import of PV modules data from PHOTON INTERNATIONAL
- Economic evaluation and payback
PVsyst is able to import meteo data from many different sources, as
well as personal data. PVsyst provides results in the form of a full
report, specific graphs and tables, as well as data export for use in
other software.

19. PLAN4SOLAR PV
• The all in one solution for simple and speedy planning and
calculation of PV systems, which leaves no wish unfulfilled.
Complete PV system planning.
Comprehensive assembly and connection plan, and all
relevant calculations such as inverter design, revenue
forecast, profitability calculations taking into account
personal use and determining the most appropriate
assembly system based on the wind and snow loads
calculations in accordance with DIN 1055 and Eurocode 1 or
comparable provisions at a country-specific level, and much
more.

20. SMA Off-Grid Configurator
• Designing plants and dimensioning off-grid PV
systems. Whether it's for a small-scale plant or a
large-scale hybrid plant, the new SMA Off-Grid
Configurator from SMA provides you with a
professional and customized solution for the
simulation and dimensioning of your off-grid
system. Every design aspect is mapped out, from
dimensioning the PV plant, the battery and the
inverter to calculating profitability and calculating
the battery life.

21. SOLARPRO
• The software calculates the amount of generated
electricity based on the latitudes, longitudes, and the
weather conditions of the installation site. This leads
precise simulation results.
Simulation including the shadow influence by
surrounding buildings and objects allows users to check
optimal settings and module designs before system
installation.
The software calculates also the I-V curve of solar
modules accurately and quickly based on the electric
characteristics of each manufacture's product.
Solarpro

22. SOLERGO (IT)
•
This italian software developed by Electro Graphics Srl is a full tools to compute the solar PV output of
a solar photovoltaic system connected to the grid. Main features :
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
- Global and full system definition
- Shading (close and remote)
- Photovoltaic generator
- Inverter configuration
- Database (inverter, irradiation, pv modules)
- PV system layout
- Analysis of consumption
- Cable sizing calculation
- Electrical diagram
- Payback
- Polluting emissions
- Economic report
•
A real advantage of this software is its Interoperability with Ampère Professional an Electrical
network calculator to analyze the electrical network of the PV generator (cables, SPD, protection,
inverter).It also Interface with software CADelet, Eplus or iDEA, for the full drawing of the system and
its construction details.

23. SKELION
• Skelion, is a Sketchup's plugin to insert solar photovoltaics and
thermal components in a surface.
• Skelion plugin gives Sketchup the possibility to insert solar panels
very fast and make fast renewable solar energy studies.
• Includes shadows projection and MAC OS and Windows
compatible.
• Skelion for SketchUp allows you to :
• Insert 3D models of the solar installation
• Export energy reports automatically from PVWatts (in USA) or
PVGis (in EU)
• Use the PV Modules data base or add your own model
• Control the shading angles for any hour of the year
• Load the current location from Google Earth
•
Exists in version free and pro version (200 USD)

24. FREE PHOTOVOLTAIC SOFTWARE

25. HYBRID2 (USA)
•
• The Hybrid2 software package is a user friendly tool to
perform detailed long term performance and economic
analysis on a wide variety of hybrid power systems. Hybrid2 is
a probabilistic/time series computer model, using time series
data for Loads, Wind speed, Solar insolation, Temperature
and the power system designed or selected by the user, to
predict the performance of the hybrid power system.
Variations in wind speed and in load within each time step are
factored into the preformance predictions. The code does not
consider short term system fluctuations caused by system
dynamics or component

26. RETScreen (CAN)
•
• RETScreen 4 is an Excel-based clean energy
project analysis software tool that helps
decision makers quickly and inexpensively
determine the technical and financial viability
of potential renewable energy, energy
efficiency and cogeneration projects.

27. SKELION
• Skelion, is a Sketchup's plugin to insert solar
photovoltaics and thermal components in Skelion
plugin gives Sketchup the possibility to insert solar
panels very fast and make fast renewable solar energy
studies.
Includes shadows projection and MAC OS and Windows
compatible.
• Skelion for SketchUp allows you to :
• Insert 3D models of the solar installation
• Use the PV Modules data base or add your own model
• Load the current location from Google Earth
•
Exists in pro version (133 USD) with more options.

28. Solar Analysis Module_SAM
• SAM makes performance predictions and cost
of energy estimates for grid-connected power
projects based on installation and operating
costs and system design parameters that you
specify as inputs to the model. Projects can be
either on the customer side of the utility
meter, buying and selling electricity at retail
rates, or on the utility side of the meter,
selling electricity at a price negotiated through
a power purchase agreement (PPA).

29. SAM_Features
• SAM can automatically download data and populate input
variable values from the following online databases:
• DSIRE for U.S. incentives.
• OpenEI Utility Rate Database for retail electricity rate
structures for U.S. utilities
• NREL Solar Prospector for solar resource data and ambient
weather conditions.
• NREL Wind Integration Datasets for wind resource data.
• NREL Biofuels Atlas and DOE Billion Ton Update for biomass
resource data.
• NREL Geothermal Resource database for temperature and
depth data. provides

30. • Photovoltaic systems (flat-plate and concentrating)
• Parabolic trough concentrating solar power
• Power tower concentrating solar power (molten salt and
direct steam)
• Linear Fresnel concentrating solar power
• Dish-Stirling concentrating solar power
• Conventional thermal
• Solar water heating for residential or commercial buildings
• Large and small wind power
• Geothermal power and geothermal co-production
• Biomass power

31. SAM_contd
• SAM's performance models make hour-by-hour
calculations of a power system's electric output,
generating a set of 8,760 hourly values that
represent the system's electricity production over
a single year. You can explore the system's
performance characteristics in detail by viewing
tables and graphs of the hourly and monthly
performance data, or use performance metrics
such as the system's total annual output and
capacity factor for more general performance
evaluations.

32. • SAM includes financial models for the following
kinds of projects:
• Residential (retail electricity rates)
• Commercial (retail rates or power purchase
agreement)
• Utility-scale (power purchase agreement):
–
–
–
–
Single owner
Leveraged partnership flip
All equity partnership flip
Sale leaseback

33. SAM_Analysis Options
• Parametric Analysis: Assign multiple values to input
variables to create graphs and tables showing the value of
output metrics for each value of the input variable. Useful
for optimization and exploring relationships between input
variables and results.
• Sensitivity Analysis: Create tornado graphs by specifying a
range of values for input variables as a percentage.
• Statistical: Create histograms showing the sensitivity of
output metrics to variations in input values.
• P50/P90: For locations with weather data available for
many years, calculate the probability that the system's total
annual output will exceed a certain value

34. Online PV Software
• PV-calculator.ch
• www.sma.de
• PvWatt

35. Smart Phone Software
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Simple operation: Works by positioning and tilting your smartphone as if it were a
photovoltaic module.
It estimates the annual amount of solar radiation and automatically provides instant
calculations.
• Precise locating: Tells the GPS coordinates of your position, the azimuth angle (compared
to the south) and the tilt angle of the installation and performs its calculations extracting
data from a database of solar radiation.
• Global weather data: Contains weather data for thousands of locations around the globe.
For example, DUNMORE SunFinder can provide users with weather profiles for 240 specific
locations in the USA.
• Reporting: Automatically compiles data – position coordinates, azimuth, tilt, reference
data points,
yearly solar radiation, and yearly average PV production – in e-mails for fast and easy
(example Dunmore-all other softwares have similar output)

36. Solar PV Apps (contd)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
'SunFinder' App - Dunmore Corporation
www.dunmore.com/pdf/sunfinder-web.pdf
PV Estimation App - onyxsolar.com
www.onyxsolar.com/
Sunny Portal - Android Apps on Google Play
Onyx Solar App
Fronius Solar.web App

37. Conversions
To Convert From
Into
Multiply By
watt-hours per square meter
joules per square meter
3600.0
watt-hours per square meter
Btu's per square foot
0.3172
watt-hours per square meter
Langleys
0.0860
watt-hours per square meter
calories per square centimeter 0.0860
degree Centigrade
degree Fahrenheit
C° X 1.8 + 32
meters
inches
39.37
meters
feet
3.281
meters
yards
1.094
meters
miles (statute)
0.0006214

38. References
• http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/PVWATTS/
version1/International/inputv1_intl.cgi?siteid=419
920
• http://irsolav.com/index.php?option=com_contact
&view=contact&id=2&Itemid=60&lang=en
• http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/cgibin/sse/register.cgi
• http://www.energymatters.com.au/climatedata/solar-water-pumpingcalculator.php?main_page=pumping_calc